Section: South Africa Today (South Africa)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Residents of Crimea Anna Sukhonosova and Dmitry Dolgopolov, suspected of spying for Ukraine, were arrested Friday following a ruling by the Moscow District Military Court, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said. The FSB operatives detained Suhonosova and Dolgopolov, who collected and passed on to the Ukrainian security...

KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has given instructions to sue Russia for causing “environmental damage” as a result of building a bridge to Crimea, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko said Friday. “The president gave instructions to sue the Russian Federation because of environmental damage from the...

KIEV (Sputnik) — A court in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region sentenced two journalists, who had been previously detained on charges of separatism, to nine years in prison, local media reported. The Andrushovsky court of the Zhytomyr region found journalists Dmitry Vasilets and Evgeny Timonin guilty, both were given nine years in prison, including...

VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) — Russia has not received any concrete written proposals from any country regarding deployment of UN peacekeeping mission in Donbass, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday. “We have made a proposal [on deployment of UN peacekeepers in Donbas] and provided reasoning for it in all ways possible, including through...

DONETSK (Sputnik) — The Minister of Revenue and Duties of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Alexander Timofeev was seriously injured in an assassination attempt in Donetsk, a source in the DPR’s security forces told Sputnik on Saturday. “There have been two explosions, an assassination on the DPR Minister of Revenue...

YALTA (Sputnik) — The Russian “black list” of EU citizens will continue to operate after the extension of European sanctions against Russian individuals and companies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday. “This was not a surprise for us given the prejudiced approach of the European Union to the intra-Ukrainian...

YALTA (Sputnik) — The Russian “black list” of EU citizens will continue to operate after the extension of European sanctions against Russian individuals and companies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday. “This was not a surprise for us given the prejudiced approach of the European Union to the intra-Ukrainian...

BERLIN (Sputnik) — German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel believes that sanctions against Russia may be loosened in case of successful implementation of the initiative on deployment of UN peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine. Gabriel pointed out that earlier this week, the issue of peacekeepers’ deployment had been discussed by German Chancellor...

KIEV (Sputnik) — Slobodyan said Saakashvili “illegally crossed the border” as he and his supporters did not pass through security checks. “The crowd… broke through the Shegini checkpoint… in fact, one could say, invaded the territory of Poland, took Mikheil Saakashvili, started a fight with the border guards and dragged Saakashvili into the...

KIEV (Sputnik) — The Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yelisieiev told Inter, a Ukrainian TV channel, that an updated version of a proposed resolution was handed over to the UN Security Council several days ago at the behest of Ukrainian President Poroshenko. The official also called Poroshenko’s upcoming...